Comment 6 by sirmailbox :

Russia has always been backwards, utterly rooted in totalitarianism. I don't think we can expect it to shake off those old filthy tendencies any time soon.

Yes, yes, yes - but you are drawing the wrong conclusion. A dreadful past and yet it is making big strides forwards. For every step forward the reaction is invariably just to say how far behind they are.

Enormous improvements are being presented as a bad static situation by big chunks of the Western media (often in cohorts with former Russian Oligarchs now out of favour with the current regime for meddling in politics and over criminal activities - such at Khordovsky's backers).

Of course, the quite deliberate manipulation of Russia's image by parts (not all) of the Western media actually makes russia look better in comparison.